Ryuichi Sakamoto Net Worth Upon Death: Was Famed Japanese Musician a Millionaire?

Ryuichi Sakamoto's decades-old career led him to become one of the most famous Japanese musicians.

The music industry, however, lost the music genius when his Twitter account and record label Commons confirmed his death. The separate posts divulged that the Yellow Magic Orchestra member passed away at the age of 71 following his lengthy battle with cancer.

After serving the industry for years, here's how much Ryuichi Sakamoto's estimated net worth was upon his death in 2023.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's Net Worth 2023

Several websites, including All Famous Birthday, estimated that Ryuichi Sakamoto's net worth was probably around $5 million at the time of his death.

Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1952, Sakamoto was introduced to the piano when he was young. He also became fond of the train's different sounds that he always rode on full-packed carriages when he was in high school.

Sakamoto enrolled at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where he studied ethnomusicology. Years after his graduation, he and fellow musicians Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi created Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 and promoted electronic music in Japan. The trio worked together on the musician's album, "Paraiso," before the release of YMO's self-titled album.

The band's debut was well-received by the Japanese people and international fans. Its first album is considered one of the earliest examples of synthpop.

YMO's album, "Solid State Survivor," was initially released in Japan exclusively. It contained Sakamoto's self-composed track, "Behind the Mask," which was notably covered by different famous musicians including Eric Clapton and Michael Jackson.

Sakamoto broke a record with YMO when it dropped "BGM" in 1981. It made the band the first music act to use a Roland TR-808 drum machine on a recording.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's Solo Career

Following the release of "Service" in 1983, YMO declared a hiatus. The break led the members to expand their solo careers, with Sakamoto scoring his first major film score the same year for "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence."

The composer also appeared in the film alongside David Bowie.

Sakamoto's biggest break arrived when he composed "The Last Emperor" score which led him to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 2015 for his work in "The Revenant."

His fruitful career was affected by his initial throat cancer diagnosis in 2014. His health was continuously tested from that time until his death, but he did not allow any issue to stop him from recording more music projects.